Airlines refuse to fly Kozhikode-Thiruvananthapuram sector

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After SpiceJet pulled out from the Thiruvananthapuram - Kozhikode sector in July, not many airlines, including the national carrier, has shown interest to resume services between the two cities. State industries minister's office had even requested SpiceJet to ply at least a few flights a week during Ramzan. But airlines say the route is unprofitable.

"There is no point in using the sector that has less than 10% occupancy . Even if an airline wants to start a Thiruvananthapuram-Dammam flight via Kozhikode, it does not make sense to open the bookings for domestic passengers . It is not feasible to load a long-haul flight with short distance passengers," said the manager of an airline.

Abdul Lateef, who works in a company at Technopark, said he finds it difficult to make impromptu visits to his home in Kuttichira, due to a travel time of 14 hours. "I used to visit my parents at least twice a month but I haven't seen them since July. There are connecting flights to Kozhikode from the city, but the time taken is similar to a train journey," he said.

A travel agent said: "The cheapest option to reach Kozhikode is to fly Air India Express from the capital to Kochi that departs at 9.30 am and arrives at 10.20 am. The departure from Kochi is at 2.05 pm and the arrival time at Kozhikode is 2.55 pm. The total flight time is seven hours, including the check-in time of one-and-a-half hours. The ticket cost is Rs 4,000."

Connectivity to Kochi is better with daily flights from Thiruvananthapuram . Air India Express departs at 6:00 am and arrives in Kochi by 6.45 am and IndiGo departs at 6:30 pm and arrives in Kochi at 7:15 pm.